Electronic Cigarette and Atomizing Assembly and Atomizing Element Thereof

ABSTRACT

An atomizing element for an electronic cigarette is provided, which includes: a porous body comprising an atomizing surface and a liquid absorbing surface; and a porous heating film formed on the atomizing surface. An electronic cigarette and an atomizing assembly including the same are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201510690956.3, filed Oct. 22, 2015, and Chinese Patent Application No.201510854348.1, filed Nov. 27, 2015, the contents of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to an electronic cigarette and anatomizing assembly and an atomizing element thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electronic cigarette, also known as virtual cigarette, electronicatomizers, is a substitute of the cigarette for smoking cessation. Theelectronic cigarette has a similar appearance and taste as thecigarette, but it generally does not contain harmful ingredients of thecigarettes, such as tar, suspended particles, and so on.

The electronic cigarette is mainly composed of an atomizer and a powerassembly. The atomizer is the core device of the electronic cigarette togenerate atomizing gas; the quality and taste of the smoke are dependedon the atomization effect. A conventional heating element of theatomizer is a spiral resistance wire wrapped around a wicking material.When activated, the resistance wire quickly heats up thus turning theliquid absorbed by the wicking material into a vapor, which is theninhaled by the user.

However, during use of this conventional electronic cigarette, only theliquid located close to a heating wire can be heated and atomized, whilethe atomization effect of the liquid located away from the heating wireor in the gap between the spiral heating wire is poor. Additionally, asthe distance of the heating wire increases, the temperature will dropgreatly, which results in uneven atomizing particles and deterioratesthe atomizing effect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure is directed to an electronic cigarette and anatomizing assembly and an atomizing element thereof having a betteratomizing performance.

An atomizing element for an electronic cigarette includes: a porous bodycomprising an atomizing surface and a liquid absorbing surface; and aporous heating film formed on the atomizing surface.

An atomizing assembly for an electronic cigarette includes: a housingdefining an airflow channel therein and comprising a reservoir forstoring liquid; an atomizing core connected to the housing, wherein theatomizing core includes the foregoing atomizing element; wherein theairflow channel is in fluid communication with the atomizing surface,and the reservoir is in fluid communication with the liquid absorbingsurface.

An electronic cigarette includes a power supply assembly and theforegoing atomizing assembly, wherein the power supply assembly iselectrically coupled to the atomizing element of the atomizing assembly.

The porous body of the aforementioned atomizing element can block theliquid while ensuring the liquid guiding effect. The plurality ofmicropores on the porous heating film can increase a contact area forthe liquid, thus enhancing an atomizing effect. Since the porous heatingfilm is located on the atomizing surface of the porous body, theatomized liquid can be exhausted from the porous body. The porousheating film can further enable the porous body to be heated uniformly,therefore the temperature of the porous body evenly increases at allpart, and the problem of generating large atomized particles due to lowtemperature at local portion can be avoided, thus the taste of theelectronic cigarette can be improved due to the uniform atomizedparticles.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features will becomemore apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunctionwith the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, theemphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principlesof the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like referencenumerals designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of an electronic cigarette inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a partial exploded, perspective view of the electroniccigarette of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electronic cigarette of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an atomizing core shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded, perspective view of the atomizing core of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exploded, perspective view of an atomizing element of FIG.5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an atomizing element in accordancewith another embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an atomizing element in accordancewith yet another embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an atomizing element in accordancewith yet another embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an atomizing element in accordancewith yet another embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of an atomizing element in accordancewith yet another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe, in detail,embodiments of the present electronic cigarette and an atomizingassembly and an atomizing element thereof. It should be noted thatreferences to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are notnecessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at leastone.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or pluralnumber also include the plural or singular number respectively.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, shall refer to this applicationas a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Whenthe claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, that word covers all of the following interpretations of theword: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and anycombination of the items in the list.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, an electronic cigarette 1 according to anembodiment includes an atomizing assembly 10, and a power supplyassembly 20 connected to the atomizing assembly 10. In one embodiment,the power supply assembly 20 is removably connected to the atomizingassembly 10. The atomizing assembly 10 includes a housing 100 and anatomizing core 200 connected to the housing 100. The housing 100 definesan airflow channel 120 and has a reservoir 140 surrounding the airflowchannel 120 for storing liquid.

Referring also to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the atomizing core 200 includes anatomizing element 240 configured to atomize the liquid. Referring toFIG. 6, the atomizing element 240 includes a porous body 242 and aporous heating film 244, both of which are provided with a plurality ofmicropores thereon. The porous body 242 includes a liquid absorbingsurface 242 a and an atomizing surface 242 b. The porous heating film244 is formed on the atomizing surface 242 b. The airflow channel is influid communication with the atomizing surface 242 b, and the reservoir140 is in fluid communication with the liquid absorbing surface 242 a.

Specifically, in one embodiment, the atomizing core 200 further includesa core body 220, which defines an atomizing chamber 222 therein. Thecore body 220 further defines an inlet 224 and an outlet 226 thereon,which are in fluid communication with the atomizing chamber 222. Theoutlet 226 is in fluid communication with the airflow channel 120. Theatomizing element 240 is received inside the atomizing chamber 222. Thecore body 220 further defines a liquid absorbing hole 228 in fluidcommunication with the atomizing chamber 222 and the reservoir 140, andthe liquid from the reservoir 140 can reach the liquid absorbing surface242 a of the porous body 242 through the liquid absorbing hole 228.

The working principle of the atomizing unit 10 of the present embodimentcan be described as follows: firstly, the liquid enters the porous body242 through the liquid absorbing hole 228, the porous heating film 244then atomizes the liquid in the porous body 242 into smoke, thegenerated smoke flows along with the airflow and passes through theoutlet 226 and the airflow channel 120, and is finally inhaled by theuser.

In one embodiment, the plurality of micropores on the porous body 242has a diameter of about 1 μm to about 100 μm. In another embodiment, asum volume of the micropores on the porous body 242 having a diameter ofabout 5 μm to about 30 μm is more than 60% of a sum volume of totalmicropores on the porous body 242. The porous body 242 can perform a“blocking” effect for it can make sure the liquid cannot flow to theporous heating film 244 too quickly, meanwhile, it can guide the liquidto be infiltrated slowly onto the contact surface with the porousheating film 244. The diameter range of the micropores can enable theporous body 242 to have a better blocking effect which can preventleakage of the liquid and a better guiding effect to prevent boil awayof the liquid.

In one embodiment, the porous body 242 has a porosity of about 30% toabout 83%. The porosity is a measure of the void (i.e., “empty”) spacesin a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the totalvolume. The porosity of the porous body 242 can be adjust in accordancewith the composition of the liquid for the electronic cigarette 1, forexample, the porosity can be a little higher as long as the liquid has alarger viscosity, thus ensuring a better liquid guiding effect.

In addition, in one embodiment, the porous heating film 244 can be madeof metal, such as one of titanium, nickel, or nickel-chromium. Theporous heating film 244 has a thickness of about 0.5 μm to about 1.5 μm,preferably from about 0.8 μm to about 1 μm. The plurality of microporesformed on the porous heating film 244 has a diameter of about 5 μm toabout 30 μm. The plurality of micropores on the porous heating film 244can increase a contact area for the liquid, thus enhancing an atomizingeffect. Since the porous heating film 244 is located on the surface ofthe porous body 242, the atomized liquid can easily flow out of theporous body 242. The porous heating film 244 can ensure a uniformheating to the surface of the porous body 242, such that the temperatureof the porous body 242 evenly increases at all part, and the problem ofgenerating large atomized particles due to low temperature at localportion can be avoided, thus the taste of the electronic cigarette 1 canbe improved due to the uniform atomized particles.

The porous heating film 244 can be formed on the porous body 242 byvapor deposition, such that the porous heating film 244 can have acertain thickness while maintaining porous. The diameter of theplurality of micropores on the porous body 242 is greater than athickness of the porous heating film 244, such that the porous heatingfilm 244 will not block the micropores during vapor deposition of theporous heating film 244. Specifically, the vapor deposition can includechemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition method, such asevaporation, or sputtering.

In the illustrated embodiment, the porous body 242 can be made of porousceramic. The porous ceramic is chemically stable and does not reactchemically with the liquid. In addition, the porous ceramic isheat-resisting and can hardly be affected by the heat of the porousheating film 244. Furthermore, the porous ceramic is an insulator, whichwill not be electrically connected to the porous heating film 244, andit is easy to manufacture and has a lower cost. In an alternativeembodiment, the porous body 242 can be made of other porous mediumcontaining pores, such as porous glass, porous plastic, or porous metal.When the porous body 242 is made of porous plastic with a lowtemperature resistance, a heat insulating material layer can be formedon the porous body 242 before depositing the porous heating film 244.When the porous body 242 is made of conductive porous metal, aninsulation material layer can be formed on the porous body 242 beforedepositing the porous heating film 244, for example, an oxidationtreatment or the like can be performed on the surface of the porousheating film 244.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the atomizing core200 further includes a first sealing element 260, which is received inthe atomizing chamber 222. Therefore a gap between an inner sidewall ofthe core body 220 and the porous body 242 can be sealed by the firstsealing element 260, and the porous heating film 244 is isolated fromthe liquid absorbing hole 228. In one embodiment, the core body 220includes a supporting portion 232. The outlet 226 is located on thebottom side of the supporting portion 232. The porous body 242 defines avent 2422 in fluid communication with the outlet 226. The first sealingelement 260 seals the gap between the porous body 242 and the sidewallof the supporting portion 232.

In one embodiment, the core body 220 further includes a connectingportion 234 made of conducting material connected to the supportingportion 232. The inlet 224 is located on the connecting portion 234. Theatomizing core 200 further includes an inlet pipe 280 and an insulatingsleeve 320. The inlet pipe 280 is made of conducting material and islocated at the inlet 224. The insulating sleeve 320 is positionedbetween the inlet pipe 280 and the connecting portion 234, thusinsulating the inlet pipe 280 from the connecting portion 234. Theconnecting portion 234 is configured to be electrically coupled to anegative of the atomizing element 240 and the power supply assembly 20,the inlet pipe 280 is configured to be coupled to a positive of theatomizing element 240 and the power supply assembly 20. The insulatingsleeve can be generally made of an elastic silicone material which has asealing effect.

Referring to FIG. 6 again, in one embodiment, the atomizing element 240further includes two electrodes 246 and two wires 248. The twoelectrodes 246 are electrically coupled to the porous heating film 244.In addition, in one embodiment, the two electrodes 246 are oppositeconfigured and located adjacent to the edge of the porous heating film244. The wires 248 are electrically coupled to the electrodes 246 bybrazing technology, and at least partial wire 248 extends inside theporous body 242, thus ensuring a secured connection. One wire 248coupled to one electrode 246 is located between the inlet pipe 280 andthe insulating sleeve 320, while the other wire 248 coupled to anotherelectrode 246 can be located between the insulating sleeve 320 and theconnecting portion 234. The wires 248 are pressed by the elasticinsulating sleeve 320, thus ensuring a secured connection.

Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the atomizing core 200further includes a liquid stopper 340, which is located between theatomizing element 240 and the inlet 224. When the liquid is absorbed bythe porous body 242, the liquid may leak out from the atomizing elementin case of vibration, then the liquid stopper 340 can prevent the liquidfrom flowing out through the inlet 224. During normal use of theelectronic cigarette 1, the airflow can pass through the liquid stopper340, and the liquid dropped on the liquid stopper 340 can be brought tothe porous heating film 244 by the airflow for atomizing, thus furtherpreventing leakage. The liquid stopper 340 defines a plurality of thoughholes 342 thereon having a diameter of about 1 mm to about 1.5 mm, whichcan prevent the liquid from flowing out effectively due to the surfacetension. The liquid stopper 340 can be made of plastic, silicon and thelike. In one embodiment, the liquid stopper 340 further defines a wiringhole 344 thereon allowing the wires 248 to pass through. The wiring hole344 can be used to restrain the location of the wires 248, so as toavoid a short circuit.

Referring to FIG. 3, in one embodiment, the housing 100 includes a firsttubular structure 160 and a second tubular structure 180. The firsttubular structure 160 has a greater diameter than that of the secondtubular structure 180, thus the second tubular structure 180 can belocated inside the first tubular structure 160. The airflow channel 120is formed inside the second tubular structure 180, and the reservoir 140is formed between the first tubular structure 160 and the second tubularstructure 180. Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in one embodiment, theatomizing core 200 further includes an outlet pipe 360 and a secondsealing element 380. The outlet pipe 360 is located at the outlet 226.The second sealing element 380 is sleeved on the outlet pipe 360, andpartial outlet pipe 360 extends beyond the second sealing element 380.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the oppositesurfaces of the porous body 242 serve as the liquid absorbing surface242 a and the atomizing surface 242 b, however, the configuration of theliquid absorbing surface 242 a and the atomizing surface 242 b may notbe limited to this, for instance, the liquid absorbing surface 242 a canbe positioned on the sidewall of the porous body 242, and the atomizingsurface 242 b can be positioned on the inner sidewall of the vent 2422of the porous body 242, as long as the atomizing surface 242 b is incontact with the airflow passing through the electronic cigarette 1. Thenumber of the liquid absorbing surface 242 a and the atomizing surface242 b can both be plural.

Referring to FIG. 7, in one embodiment, the porous body 242 has atubular shape, the liquid absorbing surface 242 a is an outer surface ofthe porous body 242; the atomizing surface 242 b is an inner surface ofthe porous body 242. The reservoir 140 can surround the porous body 242,the airflow channel 120 is in fluid communication with an cavity 245 ofthe porous body 242. In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 7, theporous heating film 244 covers the whole atomizing surface 242 b. Inalternative embodiment, referring to FIG. 8, the porous heating film 244may cover partial atomizing surface 242 b.

Referring to FIG. 9, in one embodiment, the porous body 242 has atubular shape and includes a first porous body 2422 and a second porousbody 2424, which are connected together. The porous body 2422 is sleevedon the second porous body 2424. The liquid absorbing surface 242 a islocated on the first porous body 2422, and the atomizing surface 242 bis located on the second porous body 2424. At least one of materials,diameter of micropores, and porosities of the first porous body 2422 andthe second porous body 2424 are different. For example, in oneembodiment, the first porous body 2422 can be made of metal, the secondporous body 2424 can be a porous insulating layer formed by theoxidation treatment, such that the first porous body 2422 is insulatedfrom the porous heating film 244. In an alternative embodiment, thediameters of the micropores on the first porous body 2422 is greaterthan the diameters of the micropores on the second porous body 2424,such that the first porous body 2422 has a better liquid storagecapacity, while the second porous body 2424 has a better liquid guidingperformance, further ensuring a better blocking effect and guidingeffect of the porous body 242.

Referring to FIG. 10, in one embodiment, the porous body 242 can have acolumnar shape, such as cylindrical or prismatic. Both ends of theporous body 242 extends inside the reservoir 140, such that the middleportion of the porous body 242 is located inside the atomizing chamber222. In this case, the liquid absorbing surface 242 a is a part ofsidewall of the porous body 242 close to both ends thereof; and theatomizing surface 242 b is the rest of sidewall of the porous body inthe middle thereof. Referring also to FIG. 11, in one embodiment, theporous body 242 defines a liquid communication hole 2426 extendingaxially. In this case, an inner surface of the liquid communication hole2426 also functions as the liquid absorbing surface 242 a, thus the areaof the liquid absorbing surface 242 a is increased, and the liquidguiding ability is improved.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to theembodiments thereof and the best modes for carrying out the presentinvention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety ofmodifications and changes may be made without departing from the scopeof the present invention, which is intended to be defined by theappended claims.

1. An atomizing element for an electronic cigarette, comprising: aporous body comprising an atomizing surface and a liquid absorbingsurface, the porous body having a first opening that is contained withinthe body and that extends through the body; and a porous heating filmdeposited on the atomizing surface, the porous heating film having asecond opening that is aligned with the first opening in the porousbody; the porous body is provided with a plurality of micropores with adiameter of about 1 μm to about 100 μm; the diameter of the plurality ofmicropores on the porous body is greater than a thickness of the porousheating film.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The atomizing element according to claim1, wherein a sum volume of the micropores having a diameter of about 5μm to about 30 μm is more than 60% of a sum volume of total micropores.4. The atomizing element according to claim 1, wherein the porous bodyhas a porosity of about 30% to about 83%.
 5. The atomizing elementaccording to claim 1, wherein the porous heating film is made of metal;the porous heating film has a thickness of about 0.5 μm to about 1.5 μm;the porous heating film is provided with a plurality of microporeshaving a diameter of about 5 μm to about 30 μm.
 6. The atomizing elementaccording to claim 5, wherein the porous heating film is made of oneselected from the group consisting of titanium, nickel, andnickel-chromium; the thickness of the porous heating film ranges fromabout 0.8 μm to about 1 μm.
 7. The atomizing element according to claim1, wherein the porous heating film is formed on the porous body by vapordeposition.
 8. (canceled)
 9. The atomizing element according to claim 1,further comprising: at least two electrodes electrically coupled to theporous heating film; a wire electrically coupled to the electrodes bybrazing technology, wherein at least partial wire extends inside theporous body.
 10. The atomizing element according to claim 1, wherein theporous body comprises a first porous body, and a second porous bodyconnected to the first porous body, the liquid absorbing surface islocated on the first porous body, the atomizing surface is located onthe second porous body; wherein at least one of materials, diameter ofmicropores, and porosities of the first porous body and the secondporous body are different.
 11. The atomizing element according to claim1, wherein the atomizing surface and the liquid absorbing surface areopposite surfaces of the porous body.
 12. The atomizing elementaccording to claim 1, wherein the porous body has a tubular shape; theliquid absorbing surface is an outer surface of the porous body; theatomizing surface is an inner surface of the porous body; the porousheating film covers at least partial atomizing surface.
 13. Theatomizing element according to claim 1, wherein the porous body has acolumnar shape; the liquid absorbing surface is a part of sidewall ofthe porous body close to both ends thereof; the atomizing surface is therest of sidewall of the porous body in the middle thereof.
 14. Theatomizing element according to claim 13, wherein the porous body definesa liquid communication hole extending axially; an inner surface of theliquid communication hole also functions as the liquid absorbingsurface. 15.-19. (canceled)
 20. An atomizing assembly for an electroniccigarette, comprising: a housing defining an airflow channel therein andcomprising a reservoir for storing liquid; an atomizing core connectedto the housing, wherein the atomizing core comprises an atomizingelement with a porous body, the porous body comprising opposing firstand second sides and a sidewall that extends therebetween, the body isspaced away from the reservoir and comprises an atomizing surface on thesecond side and a liquid absorbing surface on the first side, the bodyhas a first opening contained within the body and that extends throughthe body between the first and second sides; the atomizing elementfurther comprising a porous heating film formed on the atomizing surfaceof the second side of the porous body with the film being spaced awayfrom the first side and the reservoir, the porous heating film having asecond opening that is aligned with the first opening; wherein theairflow channel extends through the first and second openings and is influid communication with the atomizing surface, and the reservoir is influid communication with the liquid absorbing surface.
 21. The atomizingassembly according to claim 20, wherein the atomizing core comprises acore body defining an atomizing chamber therein; the atomizing elementis received in the atomizing chamber and away from the reservoir; thecore body further defines an inlet and an outlet thereon which are influid communication with the atomizing chamber; the outlet is in fluidcommunication with the airflow channel; the core body further defines aliquid absorbing hole in fluid communication with the atomizing chamberand the reservoir and being positioned in proximity to the first side ofthe porous body and away from the second side of the porous body, theliquid from the reservoir reaches the first side of the porous bodythrough the liquid absorbing hole.
 22. The atomizing assembly accordingto claim 21, wherein the atomizing core further comprises a firstsealing element received inside the atomizing chamber, the first sealingelement is configured to seal a gap between an inner sidewall of thecore body and the porous body, thereby isolating the porous heating filmfrom the liquid absorbing hole.
 23. The atomizing assembly according toclaim 21, wherein the atomizing core further comprises a liquid stopperlocated between the atomizing element and the inlet, the liquid stopperdefines a through hole thereon having a diameter of about 1 mm to about1.5 mm.
 24. An electronic cigarette, comprising: a power supplyassembly; an atomizing assembly for an electronic cigarette, comprising:a housing defining an airflow channel therein and comprising a reservoirfor storing liquid; an atomizing core connected to the housing, whereinthe atomizing core comprises an atomizing element separated from thereservoir and with a porous body with opposing first and second sidesand a sidewall that extends therebetween, the body further having afirst opening that is contained in the body and that extends between thefirst and second sides, the body positioned in the housing with thefirst side facing towards the reservoir and the second side facing awayfrom the reservoir, the body further comprising an atomizing surface onthe second side and a liquid absorbing surface on the first side, theatomizing element also comprising a porous heating film formed on theatomizing surface, the porous heating film having a second opening thatis aligned with the first opening; the airflow channel extends throughthe first and second openings and is in fluid communication with theatomizing surface, and the reservoir is in fluid communication with theliquid absorbing surface; wherein the power supply assembly iselectrically coupled to the atomizing element of the atomizing assembly.